My guess would be, because the album was released in 1977, that was a time when the music spoke for itself. Although music videos were starting to come into play more heavily around this time, the album did not need any extra bells and whistles like videos or movies like "Saturday Night Fever", which was released that same year.

Speaking of that, I'm thinking a lot of people gravitated towards "Rumours" because Disco was the most popular music in 1977 and "Rumours" did not contain any Disco songs so it was different from what we were being inundated with on the radio at that time.

5 of the 10 highest selling albums of all time came from 1976-77. That gives some perspective as well.

Wolfie87 said:

This is NOT a bashing of said album, but I have always wondered why Rumours was the second most successful album on the charts (behind Thriller) of all time? It didn't really have any lasting visually themes that has stuck with us to this day. No music videos that I have seen. Thriller had the music videos. Purple Rain had the movie and well... Purple. Etc etc. So what made Rumours to the masterpiece it clearly is? Remember that I'm relatively young, so I wasn't there when it happened. I would guess Stevie Nick's unique voice.

I have to say, I laughed while reading your post. The ideas are ill-informed.

I'm not sure what "visual themes" is supposed to mean, but in the days before MTV, people relied on talent. You didn't have talent, you didn't make it to radio or an appearance on a music TV show. People didn't necessarily make proper music videos that we know today. Those "videos" were often performance videos recorded for overseas press outlets and entertainment shows if the band didn't travel there to promote the album.

Thriller had seven singles, and only three videos, which is less than half. No tour either, not until he grouped with his brothers, and divided up with older material (they didn't even sing music from Victory, except one or two occasions).

Clearly, not every album is going to have a movie or a "visual album" like Beyonce needs to have to sell a record. The closest I remember to that was the Beatles movies before I was born, and Electric Light Orchestra doing visual album, of sorts, for Discovery (I think).

I mean, unless you're a real lover of music, and remain open to new, I'm not sure how you can ever appreciate an older record before the onset of MTV. You'll just continue to sound uneducated and ignorant of real music. You think Prince was referencing Human League or The Thompson Twins when he said "real music by real musicians?"

It seems dense to not consider that albums were great before visuals set in. Rumours album didn't solely rest on Nick's voice, either. TheFman makes a good point that 5 of the 10 biggest albums came from the mid-70s. Go read a book, a wiki page, anything to educate yourself on the history of a record, the recording process, the layering of instruments, the stories behind the songs. Find Classic Albums series from VH1 and watch the one about Rumours. It was the final episode from season one of the show.

I was never a fan of Rumours when it was out, but as I grew up and realized there was more to the world than disco, Thriller and Purple Rain, I enjoyed the immensely well-crafted and incredible albums by people like Fleetwood Mac, or Steely Dan (who, seriously, wasn't on my radar until about 12 years ago when I randomly heard "Peg" while sitting in a parking lot and had no idea what it was, but I knew I had to figure it out; I wrote lyrics on a napkin, took them home and searched for the song. Aja is now one of my favorite records. It was also profiled on Classic Albums.)

https://www.youtube.com/w...3ywicffOj4

Wolfie87 said:

It didn't really have any lasting visually themes that has stuck with us to this day.

Is that why some of Elvis Presley's movies are more well known than his individual albums?

TrivialPursuit said:

You didn't have talent, you didn't make it to radio or an appearance on a music TV show.

What did The Archies have? They had a big hit single. I guess a hamburger eating drummer wearing a crown had a lot of appeal to record buyers.

MickyDolenz said:

Rumours is a wonderful album from a wonderful time.Takes me back to being a kid in the 70s,which was so much fun but as much as I love this album,I love their previous album (the self-titled one released in 1975) even more.Their music was a large part of my childhood.

Stevie Nicks as a beautiful, golden-haired hippie witch is one of the biggest images in rock history. There's more to visuals than videos.

Really, it was just such a fantastic album. I remember listening to it when I was a kid and I was in awe of Stevie's voice and how sultry she sounded singing Dreams.

It's a legitimate question from a relatively younger Orger who acknowledges that Rumours is indeed a classic.

At the heart of it, I think that the album was deeply personal and honest. It was an album about love and loss, and conflict -- with no clear antagonist or protagonist. A group of artists were working oujt their issues against each other . . . with each other. I wish I could explain it better, but that's what made the album (IMO) extraordinary.

I was very young when the album came out, but when "Dreams" and "Go Your Own Way," they struck a chord. I've heard nothing like them before and nothing like them since. As an adult, I understand them and other great songs like "Second Hand News" even better. Because they're not merely great -- they're honest and genuine. They paint paint a picture so vivid that videos couldn't do them justice.

That's why IMO Rumours was and is so successful across the board. The audience can feel AND relate to the album from beginning to end.

[Edited 10/9/19 10:07am]

Second Hand News

Dreams

Never Going Back Again

Don't Stop

Go Your Own Way

Songbird

The Chain

You Make Loving Fun

I Don't Want To Know

Oh Daddy

Gold Dust Woman

A clue or two right there.

Cloudbuster said:

Second Hand News

Dreams

Never Going Back Again

Don't Stop

Go Your Own Way

Songbird

The Chain

You Make Loving Fun

I Don't Want To Know

Oh Daddy

Gold Dust Woman

A clue or two right there.

Perfect reply.

Stevie Nicks was with Lindsay Buckingham but had an affair with Mick Fleetwood. Christine McVie was divorcing John McVie. Buckingham Nicks were a duo before joining the band. So there was lots of drama inspiring these songs.

The songs are classics because they are genuine and the best work from a group that was full of solo star writers.